How are the I-9 requirements applied when hiring a minor?

When an employer hires an employee in the United States, the employer is immediately required to verify the employee’s identity and work eligibility by completing the Form I-9 employment verification process.

The purpose of the I-9 verification process is to require employers to verify that the people they hire are authorized to work, and to impose penalties on employers who either fail to do so, or who otherwise employ individuals who are not authorized to work in the U.S.

The main way that an employer verifies that an individual is authorized to work in the U.S. is to complete the USCIS Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for each person the employer hires. The process, in general, consists of the employee providing to the employer documents that prove 1) the employee’s identity, and 2) that they are authorized to work in the United States.

The I-9 employment verification process also applies to employers that hire a minor. In this post, we take a look at the I-9 employment verification process as it applies to employees under 18 years old.

For purposes of the I-9, a “minor” is defined as someone under 18 years old. Note that this is different from U.S. immigration law, which defines a “child” as an unmarried person under the age of 21. For example, an individual who is 19 years old would not be a “minor” for purposes of the I-9, but they would be a “child” for purposes of U.S. immigration law.

The minor’s parent or legal guardian can complete Section 1 of the I-9 on the minor’s behalf. If they do so, the parent or legal guardian would sign “individual under age 18” where “signature of employee” is requested. The parent or legal guardian would also sign under “signature of preparer or translator,” and they would also print their name and address.

The minor can satisfy Section 2 of the I-9 in the same way that an adult employee would complete it – by providing a List A document or a combination of List B and List C documents. Recall that List A documents proves both the person’s identity and their eligibility to work (a U.S. passport, for example); List B documents prove only a person’s identity (such as a state-issued driver’s license); and List C documents prove only a person’s eligibility to work.

However, if the employer does not participate in E-Verify, the minor is not required to provide a List B document. In this case, the employer would complete the questions in Section 2, including the minor’s name and the number correlating to the minor’s citizenship or immigration status (this information should match the information provided in Section 1). In Section 2 under List B “Document Title,” the employer would write “individual under age 18.” The employer would also provide the relevant information regarding the List C document. The employer would add the date employment started, and would sign and date Section 2 upon physically examining the documents the minor employee has presented.

If the employer does participate in E-Verify, the minor does not have the option to omit a List B document. Instead, the minor must present either a List A document or a List B identity document in addition to a List C document.

The employer must ensure that all parts of Section 1 of the Form I-9 are completed by the employee or their parent or legal guardian no later than the employee’s first day of employment – this includes making sure that Section 1 is signed and dated by the employee or their parent or legal guardian. An employee starts employment when the employee starts providing labor or services in exchange for compensation.

The employer must review the employee’s Section 2 documents within 3 business days of the minor employee being hired. For example, if the employee starts performing work in exchange for compensation on Monday, the employer should ensure that the employee (or their parent or legal guardian) completes Section 1 before the employee leaves work on Monday. The employer should review the employee’s Section 2 documents by Thursday of the week the employee starts work, assuming they started on Monday.

The employer has a number of responsibilities when completing the Form I-9 employment verification. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that, before the end of the employee’s first day of paid work, the employee or their parent or legal guardian completes Section 1 of the Form I-9. This includes making sure that the employee (or their parent or legal guardian) signs the form and the attestation that they are providing the requested information under penalty of perjury.

It is also the employer’s responsibility to personally review the original documents that the employee provides in response to Section 2 of the Form I-9. The employer must review the documents in the employee’s presence within three business days of the employee’s start of employment, and must list on the Form I-9 the documents that the employee provides to verify her identity and eligibility to work. Recall that, as described above, if the employer does not participate in E-Verify, the minor is not required to provide a List B document. However, if the employer does participate in E-Verify, the minor does not have the option to omit a List B document. Instead, the minor must present either a List A document or a List B identity document in addition to a List C document.

The employer should review the Form I-9 to make sure that the entire form is properly completed, then sign and date the bottom of Section 2. The person who actually looked at the employee’s documents should sign this section, and they should list the date on which they are actually completing the form.